Bio
Andrew Reach, Architect and Miami native (b.1961), spent his formative years in Miami. From an early age he had an appreciation of art, graphic design
and Architecture and enjoyed drawing and sketching. By high school, he knew what he wanted to be - an Architect.
On his way to becoming an architect, Reach studied at New York’s Pratt Institute of Art & Design. And at various points in his architectural career, he worked with such notables as Yann Weymouth and Harold Zellman. After working in New York and Los Angeles he returned to Miami where his architec- ture moved towards large-scale buildings as an Architect for the worldwide firm HOK Architects. As Project Architect, his last project was The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University in Miami where he collaborated with renowned architect Yann Weymouth whose newest museum, the new Dali Museum in Tampa recently opened in the fall of 2010.
Starting in adolescence Andrews’s spine began showing signs of a disease known as Scheuermann’s Kyphosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine where the spine curves forward. His curvature got to the point where his internal organs were impacted and life saving surgery was required. His first surgery in 2003 involved a multi level spinal fusion assisted by rods and screws to correct the curvature. This fusion comprised more than two thirds of his spine.
In the fall of 2004, at the commencement of construction of the Frost Museum, Andrew would undergo a second surgery. It would mark an end and a new beginning.
A complication occurred from the first surgery. As his surgeon put it in lay terms, “Your head is falling off your spine”. The second surgery extending the rods and screws signaled the end of his architectural career with the realization and acceptance of being disabled and not able to perform the rigors of his profession.
After the surgery and severed from his profession, the pain from his spine took control of Andrew both emotionally and physically. Then, at the urging of Bruce Baumwoll, his life companion, he began to learn Adobe Photoshop; using the software program to make greeting cards, employing images from Bruce’s collection of vintage ephemera. The creation of these cards were a transition to what would become—making original digital art from scratch.
Little did Andrew know at the time that a journey paralleling Art Therapy would lead him to making art as his path to liberation. Using the world of computer technology he is able to generate art that expresses his creative energies while allowing a channel to escape his pain.
Parks & Recreation, 2011
54"x54"
Archival digital print on canvas
A Fisherman's Net Strung by the Constellations, 2011
54"x94.5"
Archival digital print on canvas
I Dreamed I Was Nine, 2009
74"x44"
Archival digital print on Somerset velvet
The Blossoming, 2011
54"x94.5"
Archival digital print on canvas
For all Art Advisory purchases or a full list of available works by Andrew Reach please contact Brooke Seidelmann at 202.483.8600 or gallery@smithcenter.org
